JEDDAH – Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors, the importer of BMW Group vehicles in Saudi Arabia, has launched BMW Group's “Stay Alert. Stay Alive.” road safety campaign for the first time in Saudi Arabia. The campaign aims to help raise awareness of the importance of road safety with focus on seat belts and car seats in Jeddah, Riyadh and Al-Khobar. Stavros Paraskevaides, Managing Director, Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors (BMW), said Wednesday at a press conference here that “the statistics show how many lives are being lost every year due to traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia, so we felt it was important to bring the BMW Group Middle East's award-winning ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive' campaign to the Kingdom to help encourage safer driving habits on our roads. We will commence our campaign with distributing free booster cushions to families with children aged 6-11 years old in malls across Saudi Arabia, but the bigger responsibility is on parents to ensure that they are used properly.” He added “everyone should be fully aware of how best to protect themselves and their children against the dangers posed by driving. We all have a role to play – the government, automotive companies, and the general public. Without a doubt, the simplest way for drivers and passengers to protect themselves is to buckle-up every time.” Statistics on road safety in the Kingdom show the need for change, as an average of 1,537 car accidents per day were reported in 2011. Saudi Arabia also recorded the highest rate of road accident fatalities in the world in 2009, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, Saudi Arabia was only given a 5/10 rating for “Seatbelt Enforcement” in the WHO report and 2/10 rating for child safety enforcement. The theme of the campaign in Saudi Arabia is seatbelt use and will include various awareness activities, in shopping malls in Jeddah, Riyadh and Al-Khobar, with the aim of distributing 1000 complimentary child booster cushions to families across the Kingdom. The cushions, distributed to parents with children aged 6-11 years (22-36 kgs), elevate the child so that the seatbelt falls comfortably across his chest rather than his neck or shoulder. Until the age of seven, children's bones are still forming and their skull and ribcage are still extremely flexible. This means that any impact can result in significant deformation of the head and brain, or damage to the heart, lungs and other internal organs. At this age, the pelvis is unstable and cannot withstand the forces from the use of regular seatbelts and therefore appropriate child restraints are essential to reduce the risk of injury. Child restraints have been shown to reduce infant deaths by approximately 70 percent, and fatalities by between 54 percent and 80 percent in an accident. It is also known that 83 percent of belted and restrained children remain uninjured in accidents. Booster seats for children aged between four and 11 years old have been shown to reduce the risk of injury by 59 percent compared to seat belts alone. The campaign will begin at the Red Sea Mall in Jeddah this month and then travel to Riyadh and Al- Khobar malls over the course of November, a specialized mall display will be up in these malls for eligible families to pick up free booster cushions and learn about the ways to ensure children's safety in their cars. The BMW Group Middle East “Stay Alert. Stay Alive.” road safety campaign was first launched in 2010 in the UAE, and is being extended across several other Middle East countries. Working closely with BMW Group importers, the campaign aims to encourage safe driving with particular focus on the importance of all passengers buckling up and wearing seatbelts. After conducting research with BMW and MINI customers, BMW Group Middle East identified the use of seat-belts, and in particular, appropriate child car seat restraints, as the key issues to be tackled in the campaign. – SG
